post 871) from Xanga

I wrote another poem. And since it's my blog, I'm posting it. I can do that.

Recipes

Get up in the dark; an early start.
Lift down the yellow bowl, the big one,
Chipped and sturdy. A big spoon, too;
A kitchen wand to beat the magic up.

Get up in the dark; an early start.
One scoop of rice for each;
Add an extra scoop for luck.

Flour and milk, eggs and yeast.
A mixture learned by heart,
Leavened by hand, lifted by angels
In Mary's praying picture on the wall.

Rinse off the talc and pick
through carefully. Some for Kitchen God,
smiling over the electric cooker.

Mix the dough
until it’s mixed enough, your neck
sucking up chaos like a sponge.
What’s in the bowl is what matters.

Make up boxed lunches for all
Your men, your sleeping men,
Melding the five tastes into one nourishing.

Ring set aside, saved from the stick
Of dough. Knead with naked hands
For these few minutes. One decade
Is enough: the Joyful Mysteries, today.

Spicy cucumbers, tomatoes in sugar,
Fried piquant bok choy, some black
String mushrooms. They need their strength.

The loaves rise towards heaven.

The rice sets up like earth.